The Burden We Will Carry
by 82and9make91
Summary: The war is reaching its end. Germany has fallen but Japan remains. Even with no more fighting on his continent, England knows that things aren't over. He meets with America and wonders exactly how much more must be done before that ever elusive word called "Peace" can be returned to the rest of the world. And questioned how far one must go to bring about said peace. One-Shot


_My first published Hetalia story, I hope you enjoy. :)_

_Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya._

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_London, July 1945_

Officially, he was on a much needed shore leave, but the living embodiment of England couldn't rest even if he wanted to. Their was so much to do and rebuild that rest and sleep seemed to far away to even dream about. It also didn't help that he was still technically at war.

England walked swiftly through the streets and occasionally gazed at the several buildings that were in ruin. It was a depressing site for him but his green eyes had seen much worse in his life. Besides whenever he was given a greeting by the men clearly the streets or offered some food by one of the shop owners he passed, he couldn't help but feel a little joy. He felt it was his obligation to mirror their efforts and determination. 'Stay Calm and Carry On' and all that.

But his business and destination was still a serious one. He was making his way to a group of large tan colored tents that had served as a makeshift base of operations for military personal during the blitz. It now served as a base for the several government officials in charge of rebuilding the city. It still held some of its military duties though and as a result one of his closest friends was waiting for him there, and he knew they had much to discus. After rounding a corner he found the tents that filled the entire street and increased his pace a little. After giving and receiving salutes from the handful of soldiers that were still assigned to guard the place he pushed open the entrance.

"Oh, you made it."

The Englishmen was meet with the sight of his former colony, who had now provided to the world that he was one of if not the strongest nation on Earth. America sat with his back to the door and his head turned around with a piece of bread hanging ungracefully from his mouth.

"Yes, you know I like to make my appointments if I can." England replied and took off his hat while walking around to sit on the cot like bed in front of the other country. America nodded and swallowed what was in his mouth before speaking again.

"Well, I know better then a lot of people how busy you can get so I knew this little meeting wasn't guaranteed." he explained while wiping his hands off on the uniform he was wearing.

After that they engaged in some small talk. They hadn't seen each other in a while and had some catching up to do. It was just an attempt to prolong the inevitable though. They both knew why they were there. After a short while it suddenly became silent and the atmosphere became dark and heavy.

"I've seen it..." America finally says in a voice just above a whisper.

England takes a deep breath before responding a hushed voice of his own. "Seriously? You've actually seen it with you're own eyes?"

"Yes." The younger nation snaps a bit irritated. "It was the first time they let me come home since this whole damn thing started and it was just to stand there and witness something like that."

England took a moment before responding again. "Well, what was it like?"

Taking a few seconds to gather his thoughts, America looked up at the moving ceiling they were under as it swayed with wind before he spoke again.

"Its...hard to describe with words. The first thing that comes to my head is to say it was 'Scary As Hell', but that doesn't do it justice. We've both seen some incredible and horrible things before but this...this is different. Absolutely nothing will be the same after its all said and done. Not a thing."

Silence falls on them again as they both let his words sink in. America looks down at his hands and England in turn at America. Since his entry in the war, England had witnessed the younger nation act in a more serious manner then any other time. He was thankful for it though, he'd much rather have him be serious with such issues then the usual hyperactive young man he acted like most of the time. Still, to see him in such a state was...unnerving. He also contemplated the words he had just heard. Could it truly be that horrible? If that was the case...

"Then..perhaps it would be best not to use it?" he asked sheepishly.

Instantly America's head snapped upward and give England a glare. It was the kind of look that felt like a person would give a sworn enemy, not an ally. As if realizing this America's expression softened and he once again looked back down to his hands.

"I'm...tired Arthur. I'm tired of it all. I want it to end. It _needs_ to end."

England couldn't move or respond. He so rarely called him by his human name. In fact he couldn't remember the last time he had. Not only that, his voice, the way he said it, and the weight of his words made The Englishmen realize that this wasn't something that was easy for the younger nation to think or talk about.

"Still...to attack civilians..." the older of the two struggled to find the words to say.

"I understand what you're trying to say but...I can't bring myself to care. My people's hatred...I can feel it piled on top of my own. If things had gone differently I would feel differently but I don't. Besides, you know the only other option and I _know_ that would be worse. You weren't there on Saipan. The civilians they...me and my guys tried to tell them we'd give them food and water and any of the stuff we were already running out of, but most of them didn't believe us because their government had told them that we would slaughter them all once we found them. So they...started jumping of cliffs to their death and every other way you can imagine they started killing themselves! Mother's were killing their own children for God's sake! So imagine that on a infinitely larger scale! That would be the only other way! So don't go telling me that there's some other way because if there was I wouldn't be alright with it!"

Without either of them noticing America had stood during his outburst and now glared down at his ally. His presence was now over powering to England. As if he was the great force that he couldn't hope to stop. "Calm down now, you're among friends here remember?" he offers.

America sighs and steps back before sitting again. He runs a hand through his hair to regain his composer as he says. "Why the the change in attitude? You weren't complaining in Dresden."

At the mention of the cities name England's eyes visually shoot open. "Thats just it...I'm having...regrets and guilt about that whole bloody mess and I don't want the same for you."

"Its war. If you don't come out of it with guilt then you don't have a soul. It will just be something else we have to bear, like all these new scars we have." he responded calmly.

They both looked at the concert ground under their feet and let silence engulf them once again before England added. "But what about Japan himself?"

"...I can't blame _him_ for having pride. I know I've got more of it then I know what to do with. But I do think its necessary for anyone that stands by their pride to have to suffer for it." he explained once more in a hush tone. With neither of them having anything else to say and having talked about all they intended to it became clear it was time for the meeting to end.

"Well I'm off. I'm needed in the Pacific." America said abruptly and stood up.

"I have business to attend as well." England proclaimed and stood as well. He looked at the young looking man in front of him and wondered how long ago it was when he had to start looking up to him instead of down. America extended his hand and England took it with a semi-firm grip.

"I'm going to end this war. Then we can argue about meaningless things again." America told him and offered a sad smile. When their hands parted they gave each other a traditional salute. With that America turned on his heel and started walking towards the exit with a fast pace. But before he got there England managed to force some words out of his mouth.

"America Wait!"

The mentioned country stopped but didn't turn around and England continued.

"I...think I can speak for just about all of _us _when I say that even though you can get on our nerves sometimes with how overly optimistic and hyperactive you can be...we still want you to be that way after this bloody war is over."

A few agonizing slow moments paced without neither of them speaking or moving a muscle before America began to raise his right arm in the air as if to wave fair well before saying in his normal high pitched joyful voice. "I can't promise anything...but heroes always try their best dude!"

Without missing a beat he stepped out of the tent and couldn't be seen. England listened as his footsteps got farther away before smiling bitterly and shoving on his hat. All he could down now is rebuild and hope with every fiber of his being that the world could finally return to peace.

_The End._

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_Pretty heavy and deep but I think most of the best Hetalia stories are. __They are of course talking about the creation of the Nuclear Bomb and the moral dilemma of weather to use it or not. Dresden,Germany is mention because the allies heavily bombed that city towards the end of the conflict in Europe and the morality of said action has been debated ever since. My own view on it and the bombings of Japan are basically that no one should be proud of them but that they were ultimately necessary. War forces governments and people to make hard choices where people will suffer either way. This is why I strongly believe that the bombings in Japan in particular were sad but justified. The events that occurred on Saipan that were mentioned in the story are true. Most of the Japanese people, much like the German people, were lied to by their governments and as a result were controlled by a since of nationalization that sometimes ventured on insanity. The only other option to end the war in the Pacific would have been a full invasion of Japan which would have resulted in millions of civilian and Allied Troops deaths. So ultimately it was the lesser of two evils. ____But now thankfully The U.S. and Japan have good relations and have had peace._

_______On a lighter note, this story just kind of smacked me in the face one day and told me to write it haha. I've been writing a hopefully really good Hetalia story for about a month now and I was planning for that one to be my first Hetalia story on here, but I just sat down and wrote this in one afternoon and here it was. :P  
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_______Well thats all I have to say, I hope you enjoyed this and if you liked it let me know with a review. :)  
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